Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies. Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Halladay Shopping Is Done For The Phillies

The Phillies made it official this afternoon; Cy Young award winning pitcher Roy Halladay is now a Phillie :O)Some say he is the best pitcher in baseball.This is a huge pick up for the Phillies and an exciting day for the fans.Halladay has signed a 3-year extension, keeping him in red pinstripes through 2013 for around 20 milliona year after his 1-year Jays contract is fulfilled in 2010.

So the Phillies have swapped one Cy Young winner for another and three prospects for 3 different prospects.The casualties for the Phillies include Cliff Lee, who went to Seattle plus 3 of our top 4 prospects; pitcher Kyle Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis d’Arnaud who all went to the Jays.In return, the Phillies will get 3 prospects from Seattle to restock the farm system; pitchers Phillipe Aumont, J.C. Ramirez and outfielder Tyson Gillies.

The Cliff Lee trade is disappointing, but it makes sense from a business perspective as the Phillies were nearing their payroll limit and they knew for sure that Lee would be only a 1-year pitcher, testing the market after 2010.From a fan perspective, it is sad to see Lee go and one cannot help but wish we could have had both Lee and Halladay even for just the one year.

And to all the yahoo’s out there who want to shout obscenities and declare that Phillies fans do not appreciate Roy Halladay, get over yourselves.It has nothing to do with appreciating Halladay and everything to do with losing Cliff Lee.If the Yankees got Halladay and had to ship off CC Sabathia to do so, tell me Yankee fans would not be shouting from the rooftops?It is the same thing.And yes, Lee and Sabathiha have comparable stats.

We are very, very happy to have Halladay and excited to see him pitch in a Phillies uniform.But it does seem sad to lose other good players in the process, especially Lee and the three prospects.You feel like a kid at Christmas that got exactly what you always wanted, but had to give back all your other presents to do so.

I have personally spoken to Michael Taylor, as an example, and he is not only a great player, but a great person as well.One cannot help but feel disappointed to see these guys leave.And I saw Lee pitch his first game with the Phillies in San Francisco; he pitched a complete game and made it look easy.We are entitled to be upset over losing our best pitcher, as I am sure Jays fans are upset over losing theirs.Are we getting a better pitcher in return?Absolutely.But wouldn’t both be so much nicer?

That being said, Phillies fans are thrilled to finally get the big prize!Happy Halladay’s to everyone in Philly!I cannot wait until Spring Training :O)

9 Comments

Good luck to the team I will be cheering for in the NL – the Phillies – since they acquired Blue Jay Roy Halladay. Philadelphia fans, embrace him please, as we here in Toronto took his his pitching for granted and didn’t even sell out the Rogers Centre when he started. I imagine he’ll look pretty good in red pinstripes, rather than black ones (i.e. Yankees). It’s a shame about Lee being dealt, but I think Doc will be a nice little consolation prize for the next three years.

Miss Phillie Phollower. I know its upsetting getting rid of Lee. Me personally, I would’ve expanded the payroll for this year to see if magic would happen. But maybe this will help put your mind at ease. Ask yourself, Why was Lee so dominating? Well out side of him being a good pitcher, he switched leagues. The national league didn’t see him before. So he caught all of them off guard. THIS YEAR wouldn’t be the same. They saw him and would figure him out. So in turn, he wouldn’t be lights out like he was this past year.

Congrats and condolences at the same time. When I first heard whispers of Doc going to Philly, I was thinking “Holy sh!t…Lee AND Doc in the same rotation? The Phils will be un-freakin-stopable in 2010!”.

Of course, you losing Cliff Lee actually sucks for me too…he’s gonna be in an M’s uni and in the rotation with that tilted-cap wearing %#$@^ Felix Hernandez…this does not bode well for my Rangers!
:^)
— Jonesteinhttp://jonestein.mlblogs.com

My take is that making these deals the Phillies prevent putting all their eggs in the 2010 basket. This way they have a chance to compete for another World Series title for another three or four years, while Utley, Howard, etc are in their prime. Lee wants “CC” money starting in 2011. The Phillies probably wouldn’t be able to pay it, given their commitments to other superstar players.

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